Peter C. K. Lau

Cyclopentanone 1,2-monooxygenase, a flavoprotein produced by Pseudomonas sp. strain NCIMB 9872 upon induction by cyclopentanol or cyclopentanone (M. Griffin and P. W. Trudgill, Biochem. J. 129:595-603, 1972), has been utilized as a biocatalyst in Baeyer-Villiger oxidations. To further explore this biocatalytic potential and to discover new genes, we have cloned and sequenced a 16-kb chromosomal locus of strain 9872 that is herein reclassified as belonging to the genus Comamonas . Sequence analysis revealed a cluster of genes and six potential open reading frames designated and grouped in at least four possible transcriptional units as ( orf11-orf10-orf9)-(cpnE-cpnD-orf6-cpnC)-(cpnR-cpnB-cpnA)-(orf3-orf4 [partial 3′ end] ) . The cpnABCDE genes encode enzymes for the five-step conversion of cyclopentanol to glutaric acid catalyzed by cyclopentanol dehydrogenase, cyclopentanone 1,2-monooxygenase, a ring-opening 5-valerolactone hydrolase, 5-hydroxyvalerate dehydrogenase, and 5-oxovalerate dehydrogenase, respectively. Inactivation of cpnB by using a lacZ -Km ^r cassette resulted in a strain that was not capable of growth on cyclopentanol or cyclopentanone as a sole carbon and energy source. The presence of σ ⁵⁴ -dependent regulatory elements in front of the divergently transcribed cpnB and cpnC genes supports the notion that cpnR is a regulatory gene of the NtrC type. Knowledge of the nucleotide sequence of the cpn genes was used to construct isopropyl-β-thio- d -galactoside-inducible clones of Escherichia coli cells that overproduce the five enzymes of the cpn pathway. The substrate specificities of CpnA and CpnB were studied in particular to evaluate the potential of these enzymes and establish the latter recombinant strain as a bioreagent for Baeyer-Villiger oxidations. Although frequently nonenantioselective, cyclopentanone 1,2-monooxygenase was found to exhibit a broader substrate range than the related cyclohexanone 1,2-monooxygenase from Acinetobacter sp. strain NCIMB 9871. However, in a few cases opposite enantioselectivity was observed between the two biocatalysts.

Using a new method based on a combination of bisulfite reaction, the repair enzyme uracil-DNA glycosylase, and synthetic oligodeoxyribonucleotides, the methylation site of DNA-methyltransferase NlaX (M·NlaX) from Neisseria lactamica was established to be the inner cytosine in the double-stranded pentanucleotide recognition sequence 5′-CCNGG-3′ (where N = any nucleoside). 5-Methylcytosine (m5C) type modification by M·NlaX was confirmed by the use of oligonucleotide substrates that contain 5-fluoro-2′-deoxycytidine.

The replication region of a 100-kb desulfurization plasmid (pSOX) from Rhodococcus sp. strain X309 was localized to a 4-kb Kpn I fragment, and its sequence was determined. The amino acid sequence of one of the predicted open reading frames (ORFs) was related to the putative replication (Rep) protein sequences of the mycobacterial pLR7 family of plasmids. Three of the five predicted ORF products were identified by radiolabelling with the Escherichia coli T7 polymerase/promoter system. In E. coli , the Rep protein of pSOX was apparently synthesized in a shortened form, 21.3 kDa instead of the predicted 41.3 kDa, as a result of an internal initiation. This situation is reminescent of that for some bacterial Rep proteins. A shuttle plasmid was constructed with the pSOX origin, pBluescript II KS−, and the chloramphenicol resistance (Cm ^r ) gene from pRF29. This new shuttle plasmid was used to demonstrate expression of the Bacillus subtilis sacB gene in a strain of Rhodococcus , rendering it sensitive to the presence of sucrose.

The two-component signal transduction pathways in bacteria use a histidine–aspartate phosphorelay circuit to mediate cellular changes in response to environmental stimuli. Here we describe a novel two-component todST system, which activates expression of the toluene degradation ( tod ) pathway in Pseudomonas putida F1. The todS gene is predicted to encode a sensory hybrid kinase with two unique properties—a basic region leucine zipper dimerization motif at the N terminus and a duplicated histidine kinase motif. Evidence from a synthetic peptide model suggests that TodS binds as a dimer to a pseudopalindromic sequence (5′-TGACTCA), which resembles the recognition sequence of the eukaryotic transcription factors Fos and Jun. These results provide additional evidence that bacteria and eukaryotes share common regulatory motifs. The todT gene product, a response regulator, was overproduced as a fusion protein in Escherichia coli , and the purified protein was found to bind specifically to a 6-bp palindromic DNA structure in the tod control region. The phosphorylated form of TodT appears to be the activator of tod structural genes. This is the first report of a two-component system that regulates aromatic metabolism in bacteria.